MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY

In addition to the above, Presidents, Secretaries, and Chairmen of Executive Commitees, or Boards of Direction, of all State Temperance Societies, in the United States, adopting the plan of abstinence from the use of ardent spirit as a drink, and from the traffic in it, are, ex officio, members of the American Temperance Society.

And Presidents, Secretaries and Chairmen of Executive Committees, or Boards of Direction of all National and State Temperance Societies in Foreign countries, are, ex officio, Honorary Members of this Society.

APPENDIX.

A. (P. 7.)

Extracts from the Speech of GERRIT SMITH, ESQ.

After spending a few minutes upon other and preliminary topics, Mr. Smith proceeded to say, that he was aware, that the American Temperance Society, on account of its censures of the manufacturer and vender of ardent spirit, had been charged with a departure from its original object, and a violation of its constitution. He admitted, that the only object within the scope of the constitution and labors of the Society, is that of bringing our fellow men to refrain from drinking ardent spirit; but he did not see why in addition to the direct efforts made for the accomplishment of this object, we might not also seek to remove the hinderances to this accomplishment. Now, the manufacture and sale of ardent spirit constitute confessedly a very great hinderance to the work of inducing our fellow men to quit the drinking of it; and this hinderance the Society very naturally and reasonably labors to remove. Could a Society, that should require its members to abstain from purchasing lottery tickets, he expected to preserve silence on the subject of lottery offices? Could a Society, formed to discountenance gambling at cards or billiards, be expected to look with unconcern on the allurements of gambling houses? No more can a Society, formed to dissuade men from drinking ardent spirit, look with indifference on the attractions and snares of the rum shop. As, in the one case, the lottery office and the gambling house irresistibly invite thousands to purchase tickets, and to stake their money at cards or billiards, who, but for their sight of these resorts, would never have fallen into this folly; so is it in the other, that men drink ardent spirit, because of the inviting facilities for getting it, and so is it, that whilst these facilities exist, our direct efforts to promote total abstinence will be measurably, if not fatally counteracted by them. Such views we must certainly admit to be just, unless we deny what the bible and our hearts and our observation teach us about the power of temptation.

*

One view of this business, and on which its advocates lay great stress, is, that it employs a great amount of labor, and forms no inconsiderable item in the industry of the nation. It is true, that it does so. But, instead of crediting the business with any thing on this account, we bring up its employment of ten thousands of our citizens as a strong argument against it; for their employ

ment is upon an object utterly valueless. I am aware, that the notion is somewhat prevalent amongst us, (I believe we are indebted to European political economists for it), that the employment of labor by government or by wealthy individuals, even if it be upon an object absolutely worthless, is nevertheless a praiseworthy liberality and of general benefit. The doctrine, in my view, is unsound at all times and every where. But, even if it could be sustained in its application to one of the densely peopled states of Europe, how plainly inapplicable is it to our own country, where population is sparse, and the demand for labor for useful objects great and incessant. But, if we cannot spare labor for objects, our only objection to which is that they are useless, how can we justify its diversion to objects not only perfectly useless, but as pernicious as useless?—And it is surely too late to deny that this character belongs to the distillation and sale of ardent spirit. The proposition, that the thousands of farmers and manufacturers and venders in our country, who are engaged in ministering to the filthy appetite of the drinkers of ardent spirit, should relinquish their business, and employ their time and capital in bringing common stones from the Rocky mountains to scatter over the Union, could, as easily as their present business, be defended by the political economist. And to go a step farther, and to bring into view the pernicious properties as well as the worthlessness of ardent spirit; if these persons were to bring loads of venomous serpents, instead of stones, to scatter over our whole land, they could be justified as easily for such strange work, as they can be for their present business; and to extend the parallel still further-if each of these serpents were armed with mortal stings, as well for the soul as for the body, then would such strange work still more closely resemble their present busi

There is one consideration, which shows conclusively, that this business of making and selling ardent spirit does not augment the wealth of the nation. We not only drink nearly all we manufacture, but we buy largely of other nations to answer the demands of our rum thirst. If we manufactured spirit for other nations, as we grow tobacco for them, worthless as are both the poisons, and clearly as they both should be, and yet will be, on every Christian's list of contraband goods; we might, perhaps, in that case, find the business more profitable; but we drink them ourselves; and therefore whatever is gained from the business by any individuals amongst us is gained from the pockets of their countrymen. The vender, who sells to his rum drinking neighbor a gallon of spirit, gets, it may be, his profit of a shilling; but that shilling and the whole residue of the cost are so much loss to his neighbor. Would that this covered the whole loss of the unhappy man, who drinks it! That one gallon, it may be, drowns his soul in perdition!

*

*

As things now are, every nine sober men in this nation are bur

dened with the partial or entire maintenance of a drunkard; for every tenth man is a drunkard; and drunkard and pauper, as we know, are well nigh interchangeable terms. And not only are the sober charged with the maintenance of the drunkard, but their contributions to public objects are greatly increased by the general inability of the drunkard to contribute to them. For instance, are there churches, school-houses, colleges, academies, roads, bridges to be built?, ministers of the gospel and school teachers to be supported? taxes to be paid? then the nine have to represent, and to pay for, the ten.

*

All admit, that a dense population is very important, if not indeed indispensable, to the success of manufactures. How greatly, therefore, would this interest suffer in our country by the loss of one tenth or one twentieth of our families? But this loss has virtually taken place. Drunkenness has disabled, has struck down, this proportion of our families; and, instead of contributing to our national industry, they are heavy drawbacks on it. Now the magic, that would convert our 300,000 drunken men into 300,000 sober men, would do more for the wealth, not to speak of the other valuable interests of our country-would exert more powerful and happier influences upon all the sources of our economical as well as moral prosperity-than the imagination can conceive. Total abstinence is this magic. Banish ardent spirit from the land, and this mighty and blessed change is wrought.

But the farmer says "I could not get as high prices for my corn and rye, if the distilleries, that are now my best market for them, were broken up;" and a present and definite gain outweighs in his mind the indirect and more distant, and therefore but partially credited losses, which he suffers by distilleries. But this present and definite gain is unreal. Break up the distilleries; let the traffic in ardent spirit cease; and no small proportion of the money, now expended for the poison, would go into the farmer's pocket, in exchange for his bread stuffs, meats, butter, cheese, &c.

*

There is one stubborn fact opposed to the supposition, that the manufacture of whiskey increases the prices of grain. In no state in the Union has the Temperance Reformation been carried to a greater extent than in New York. A very large proportion of the distilleries in it have been abandoned. Thousands of her citizens have relinquished the sale of ardent spirit. Nearly half a million of her citizens have conscientiously sealed up their lips against the deadly drink; and yet the prices of coarse grains within her limits have not fallen. So far from their having fallen, they have been higher during the last five years, or period of the Temperance Reformation, than they had been during any equal period in the last quarter of a century, if we except the five years immediately following 1812, and comprising the time of our second war with Great-Britain. To how large an extent should the